Election Results 2006
2 Commissioners, New Probate Judge Earn Seats
By Karen Gould

John Monville of the Mackinac County Board of Canvassers checks ballot tabulations while (from left) Kathy Wells, Jeri Huyck, and Dorothy Paquin review election documents as they work to certify the election, Wednesday, November 8.

Eight Mackinac County precincts recorded high voter turnouts, boosting the countywide average to more than 57 percent, four percent higher than the state turnout, during the general election Tuesday, November 7. The impact of last week's election will be felt locally beginning January 1, when a new probate judge, two new county commissioners, and a new road commissioner take their seats in county government.

With Clayton Graham's win over 12-year Probate Judge Tom North, the county will also have a new prosecuting attorney. When Mr. Graham resigns as prosecutor to take his seat on the bench January 1, Circuit Court Judge Charles Stark will appoint someone to fill the remaining two years of Mr. Graham's elected four-year term as prosecutor.

At the county level, Commissioner Carl Frazier, a Democrat from Naubinway, retained his seat, beating out Republican challenger Bob Brotherton of Gould City by more than 120 votes, while fellow commissioner Jim Farero, a Republican from Cedarville, failed to garner enough write-in votes to overcome Cedarville Republican Mike Patrick, who won in the August primary election.

Commissioner Joe Durm, a Democrat from St. Ignace, who also lost his seat in the primary to challenger Democrat Calvin McPhee of St. Ignace, did not contest the August win.

Commissioners Dawn Nelson and Larry Leveille ran unopposed in the general election and will continue serving on the county board.

Frank Luepnitz, a Democrat from Brevort, and a 21-year employee of the road commission, won his battle against incumbent John Duncan, a Republican from Cedarville, for a six-year seat on the road commission. Mr. Duncan served one term as a road commissioner. To take the road commission seat, Mr. Luepnitz must resign from his road commission job by December 31.

In the townships, challenger Lorrain Phillips was elected to the Bois Blanc Township school board, winning over 12-year incumbent Sandra Younge by seven votes.

Burton Rutledge will take a seat on the Brevort Township board, beating Luci Wallace for the position. Mr. Burton, who won the seat by nine votes, replaces Bernie Sorrels, who temporarily filled a vacant seat on the board created when Mark Peterson left to become fire chief.

Al Garavaglia ran unopposed as Hudson Township supervisor, a position he has filled since 2005, when the former supervisor resigned.

Newton Township residents said yes to a four year, one-mill proposal to fund fire and ambulance operations. The issue passed by 20 votes, although it failed in the August primary by 10 votes.

A Bois Blanc zoning proposal failed by five votes that would have allowed a parcel of land north of County Road to be changed from low density residential to commercial II.

A proposed community center for Brevort Township also failed to get voter approval, with a 72-vote spread.

Unofficial election results show 4,557 ballots were cast in Mackinac County, with 9,515 residents registered to vote. Results remain unofficial until they are certified by the Canvassing Board, which is expected to take place this week, reported Mary Kay Tamlyn, Mackinac County clerk.

The lights stayed on in Mrs. Tamlyn's office until nearly 1 a.m., five hours after polls closed Tuesday, as she and her staff of four fielded phone calls from the media, candidates, citizens, and township offices. They also received and tabulated all township returns and electronically downloaded them onto the state's Web site before heading home.

The City of St. Ignace was the last to submit voting results, at 11:55 p.m., because the precinct had run 140 ballots short. Copies were made of the ballot, requiring election workers to manually tally the results, with the entire process taking approximately three hours, said City Clerk Renee Vonderwerth.

"We had an exceptionally good voter turnout. Voting trends are up in the last couple of elections and that's a good thing," she said.

Atotal of 1,023 voters turned out in the City of St. Ignace, almost 50 percent of its 2,052 registered voters.

Mackinac Island City Clerk Karen Lennard, who was the first to send in voting results to the county at 8:20 p.m., said the Island had seven ballots left over. In anticipation of high voter turnout, she had election workers set up another voting booth for a total of four booths. Even with the additional booth, at one point, six people were in line waiting to vote, which is unusual for the Island, she said.

"We got nervous," said Alice Zdebski, Newton Township clerk, who noted the precinct only had 26 ballots left over. "Next time, I'm ordering more."

She said it was one of the biggest turnouts, with 216 votes cast. The record for the western community was set two years ago during the presidential election, when the township recorded 252 votes. She said voting was steady all day and by noon 100 ballots already had been cast.

"We used every ballot we could," said Kris Vallier, clerk for Moran Township. She said the township even used 20 test ballots, and declared the election a record turnout.

Test ballots are used to set up voting equipment, and if needed, can be used as actual ballots during the election, explained Mrs. Tamlyn.

Brevort Township Clerk Susan Stelzer also reported using test ballots. She had ordered 300 ballots and 299 people voted, although six of those ballots were spoiled, requiring her to dip into the test ballots.

"It was my fourth election and definitely the busiest," she said.

She also said when voters had to wait for a booth, a few tried using the Automark voting machine. The machine, which can be used by anyone, was designed to allow independent voting for voters with disabilities.

"It was good to see people out and taking an interest in the election," she said.

Linda Bennett, clerk at Garfield Township, reported a 61.9 percent turnout, keeping election workers in Naubinway so busy, they didn't have time for lunch. Both the Garfield and Naubinway polls were steady all day. The voting percentage could have been higher in the township, with an unusual number of potential voters who thought they were registered to vote, yet found they were not, she said.

Sherry Cece, Hendricks Township clerk, reported a steady stream of voters throughout the day, with 69 township residents casting ballots. The township has 112 registered voters.

Deputy Clerk Julie Smith of Clark Township also reported an interest in the Automark machines. She said use of the machines was offered when the voting line backed up.

"It was really nice for those in wheelchairs," she reported.

With more than 61 percent of Clark Township voters participating in the election, she said, "There was a nice, steady stream and we were busy the whole day."

Voters in St. Ignace Township also were encouraged to use the Automark machine. Donna Harju, township clerk, said three people used it and one of them, who was legally blind, "loved it."

She reported voting went smoothly in the township.

"We had a good turnout, much better than lately," she said.

Portage Township Clerk Marcia McDonald agreed that the election brought one of the higher voter turnouts at more than 67 percent, with 507 of 755 registered voters casting ballots. She said of those, 117 were absentee ballots, which she attributed to those who have gone south for the winter months. Township people used online services from the state to download absentee ballot applications. She said one resident, who is in the military, used the online option and faxed her the application from Hawaii.

Mrs. McDonald said the township election workers were busy in the morning, saw steady voting through the day, and became busy again in the evening, with the last voters arriving approximately 15 minutes before the polls closed at 8 p.m.